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Two Sticks Ancient method simplifies layout of big jobs by Hank Gzlpin The stick method of measuring and drawing is by no means new. I'm certain it predates all other methods used in designing furniture, since the availability of large pieces of paper is a relatively recent luxury. Prior to the introduction of S-curves in the late 17th century and the multiple-angle joinery of the Chippendale period, most furniture was joined very simply and readily adaptable to stick layout. The introduction of complex joinery and curved forms in furniture has not diminished this method's usefulness because even today most wooden objects are based on rectangles and squares. Contemporary English cabinetmakers use this method for nearly all construction except chairs, which are difficult to lay out on a stick. However, the simple Carver chairs of colonial America and the delicate chairs turned by the Shakers are obvious results of the stick method. In reproduction work the stick is very handy. If you are asked to duplicate a Sheraton bow-front chest, all you have to do is hold a stick to the front and scribe all the elements of the chest onto the sticks. Then you need only a full-scale drawing 0f the front curve. I was introduced to the stick method by Tage Frid during the construction of a library circulation desk that measured 15 ft. by 18 ft. Frid grabbed the scale floor plan we'd drawn up, took a few measurements and covered two sticks with mysterious pencil lines. He made a cutting list, somehow related to those marks on the stick, attacked a 24-sheet pile of plywood, cutting, grooving and tonguing and in less time than it would have taken to execute a full-scale drawing (I'd still be hunting for an 18-ft. table) all the parts for the desk were cut to size, Hank Gtlpin makes furniture in Lincoln, R.I., and teaches woodworking at Rhode Island School of Design. tongued and grooved, and ready to be glued together. None of this really sank in until I had my own shop and was faced with my fIrst big job. But, once I had adapted to the sticks as a substitute for full-scale drawings and devised my own method of marking, I wondered how I ever worked without them. Every element of a job can be drawn on just two sticks : doors, drawers, carcases and frames, drawer sides, bottoms, pulls, hinges, edge-banding and shelves. In this article I'll use a kitchen to illustrate the stick method of layout, but everything I'm going to discuss can be applied to any large job that is to be constructed in your shop and installed elsewhere. I'm focusing on a kitchen because it is a job you are likely to obtain ; everybody needs one. Undoubtedly this will be a larger job than you've ever done, possibly including fIfty feet of cabinets. No problem. If proper attention is paid to measuring, layout and some standardization, things will progress with staggering swiftness. The fIrst step is careful measurement of the room with sticks, two pieces of wood 3/4 in. square (it 's a handy size) , each at least 18 in. longer than half the largest dimension of the room. In an 8-ft. by 12-ft. room with an 8-ft. ceiling, two sticks each 7- 1/2 ft. long will suffIce for all necessary measuring, with a face of the pair of sticks used per wall. For large or complicated rooms I use two sets of sticks , one for the horizontals and one for the verticals. Assuming walls B and D are to receive cabinets we'll pro- ceed to measure, or " stick off, " the room. Facing B, hold the sticks horizontally at chest height and push them apart until they meet walls A and C. Mark the two sticks appropriately and check for variations at floor and ceiling level, noting any differences on the sticks. This noting of variations in length Gilpin sticks of f room, noting window position. Stick marks (left) establish scribing allowances for fitting cabinets. 46